User Reviews (1 - 11 of 29)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Solid expansion

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 24
Date: March 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

While the game play is exactly like that of the previos DOW's that is in no way a bad thing. Instead of trying to fix what wasn't broken to begin with the developers focused on the implementation of new units, features and races.

With the addition of the air units the player now has a unit that can quickly respond to any point on the map to harrass the enemy or defend territory.

The campaign works very much like that of Dark Crusade but instead of fighting on one planet there are four. To get to another planet you have to control a section of the planet with a "warp gate." Another change is that each race has a unique bonus power, the Space Marines can use drop pods to bring in their troops, the Necrons can have some of their fallen Honor guard restore themselvs after the battle is over without buying them again, the Imperial guard has reduced production costs, and the Tau have a cannon that can be used to "soften" up the enemy forces when invading their territory.

Both of the new races have their own strengths and weaknesses. The sisters aren't as tough to kill as the Space Marines but they can be devistating to infantry and buildings with the amount of flame throwers and melta weapons they can field at once. The Dark Eldar lack the ability to make base defences but are quick at producing units and move very quickly across the map.

In all I have enjoyed this addition to the DOW series and do recommend it.

weak effort

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 22
Date: March 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

the opening cut scene's short length and cheesy graphics told the tale of the game to come. remember dow's opening scene, the immersion that commenced? yeah, you're not gonna get anything like that experience in this game. two new factions, both really have zero impact on the future of the warhammer 40k universe. i'd wait a few months, the price'll drop, and pay $20 for this just for new maps.

Give me more!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: March 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

No there isn't anything terribly new or progressive with this game, but with so many lame RTS's out there I'll take a new dawn of war expansion any day!

Could've Been Great

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: March 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

My rig isn't on steroids, so I expected the same if not identical gaming experience I had with Dawn of War Series. I have the recommended requirements well above the recommended requirements, and yet, the game runs choppy, sloppy and the load times are unacceptable compared to Relic's last stand alone expansion, Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. The units are more aggressive in the single player campaigns making troop build up difficult and sometimes impossible. The Dark Eldar have no perimeter defense that I can see, and their pop cap is low, so it's hard to build a formidable army. Not to mention the pathing problems. I enjoyed the whole DOW series, but the newest installment in the DOW series has heavy load times, poor pathing and general bugs that make the game a loser.

Dissapointed

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: March 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I'm a huge fan of DoW, and in no small part against having two new races to play until Relic gives us the sequel. Unlike lots, I didn't scream and cry that the Tyranids aren't in Soulstorm, and I'm perfectly happy with DE and Sisters.

The gameplay itself is still superb, the type of RTS you'd expect from Relic by now. Aside from a bit more slowdown in the actual gameplay than in previous DoW titles, it's everything that DC was, plus the two new races.

What's disappointing is that this was clearly a rushed job. There are huge issues with the game engine itself, resulting in massively absurd load times and unexplainable slowdown. I consider myself more patient than most, willing to wait 20ish seconds for something that should really only take two to three. Unfortunately, twenty seconds would be a blessing as far as Soulstorm is concerned.

On a system that loads a Dark Crusade map in just over five seconds, and runs the largest DC maps on maxed settings with no apparent slowdown or freezing, the wait is over a minute for your average Soulstorm map to load. Medium sized maps produce the random jerky motion when more than eight or ten squads are fielded at the same time. Fourty-five seconds is the wait which I counted while twiddling my thumbs after clicking on the "Campaign" button from the main menu before the DC-style Campaign interface began to load.

The most irritating thing about this all is that there are so many re-used aspects of the game. From interfaces, to sounds, and textures (expect to see and hear high imperial guard influence in SoB), you can tell that the engine is beginning to meet it's limits. That's fine too, but the game itself shouldn't suffer the way it does right now. The campaign interface is just a slightly retextured version of DC's, which loaded in the blink of an eye, so why does the Soulstorm one take nearly a minute? I wasn't expecting anything ground-breakingly new this late into the DoW series, but it just doesn't justify the load times.

It's really too bad that the game is in it's current condition. It's nothing a patch or two won't fix, but for now I may just put the game down until a patch is released to speed up this clunky engine.

Feels like a rush job

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 24 / 28
Date: March 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

While Soulstorm keeps the key gameplay elements that have kept me playing the DoW series for 4 years after it came out, this game mostly just offers more of the same, without too much that is new. The two new races are pretty cool, but with 9 races now, it almost feels like there is too much in the game, and not enough to distinguish the different races. The Sisters of Battle play to me like a compromise between the Imp. Guard and the Space Marines. I have also encountered a number of graphical glitches and crashes that I never saw in the previous installments of the game, which suggest to me that this game was rushed out a bit. The insane load times mentioned by another reviewer are a bit of a drag. Not a bad game, by any means, but for $40, we deserved more.

Love it!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: March 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I love this game! The air units are a blessing to the Imperial Guard who can not maneuver as well as the other races plus it adds new strategies to the game. People complain about the load time but is 30 more seconds really that big of a waste of life? The new maps are awesome and who can complain about more maps? Sure there are some bugs but this game just came out. I'm sure there will be patches to correct the pathing problem which is my only real complain. Also I hope or rather wish they would return the assassin to his former glory. Actually I would have liked to have seen a few more units such as bikes, noise marines, swooping hawks, mortar teams, piranhas, and a larger troop and vehicle cap but hey who knows? Maybe another DoW with Tyranids? Either way though this is worth the buy and is a fun experience especially with 2 or more people playing multi player. Even the campaign itself is a blast. All in all total worth it.

because you play the game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: March 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

You buy this because you play the game and for no other reason. This is not a good introduction game to DOW 40K. Warhammer Down of War Platinum is the introduction purchase you want to make. After you have played those games, buy this to complete the set and pick up some new options.
This is an expensive expansion. The two new races have some interesting extras and add something to the system. The new campaign and maps are good. Air support for all races is a major improvement and something that is needed.
I agree that this "feels rushed" and expect a patch ASAP. One very good thing is that THQ and a huge fan base support the series. This means that problems are fixed, questions can be answered and a constant stream of maps and modifications are available. This is a fun game. The AI is good and your units have enough sense to fight without having to be ordered to do so.

A nice way to finish the series

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: March 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have thoroughly enjoyed Dawn of War, plus all three expansions. With the addition of the Sisters of Battle and the Dark Eldar, the game now has 9 fairly unique and fun races. This expansion is at least as good as the other two, though it is not without flaws.

Gameplay: Same great, over-the-top, explosive action. Just more races to cause havoc. The campaign is based on the meta-map concept from Dark Crusade, where you move about a turn-based strategic map and engage in real-time battles. The new maps look great, but it does get tiring having to fight the same skirmish on the same maps during the campaign. Each race has a stronghold mission, which are challenging and well done. There is really not a lot of reasons to play through the campaign more than once or twice, but it is a nice diversion.

Skirmishes against the AI are generally great fun. My only quibble is that the AI is merely decent; Relic really does need to get more serious about AI programming for Dawn of War 2. While it can sometimes put up a good fight, at other times computer opponents will do some outright goofy things, like not tech or build necessary buildings. Thankfully, there is a good player-made mod forthcoming that should greatly improve the AI. Still, Relic, which has built its reputation upon real-time strategy games, should take more care with its AI. Anyhow, I only rarely play multiplayer and haven't played it with Soulstorm yet. However, there are supposed to be some improvements, like better connectivity, metals, etc.

Graphics: The game still looks great to me. The Dark Eldar and the Sisters are well done. The game adds air units to the mix which also look good. I personally like them, though they don't have a large impact on the core ground-based gameplay.

Sound: As much personality as ever. The Dark Eldar are especially wicked in their voice acting. All other sounds--explosions, weapon fire, etc.--is convincingly done.

Technical issues/documentation: Beyond minor AI bugs, I have not experienced any technical issues with the game in single-player modes. The game comes with a manual that adequately describes the new races.

Replayability/Value: Since this game will continue to get some high-quality, player-made mods and maps, I will probably be playing it for years to come. The Dawn of War series is my favorite RTS game, and Soulstorm just reaffirms that. Since it is a stand-alone expansion, I highly recommend it to anyone who likes strategy games or the Dawn of War series.

Pros:
+2 new and well-done races
+Slightly improved campaign
+Many more maps
+Still looks, sounds, and plays well
+Has a talented modding community

Cons:
-Not the best skirmish AI, even after all of these expansions
-Only slightly improved campaign

Must Rebuild Everytime

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: March 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

While I like the game and don't have a problem with the little extra time it takes to load, I don't like the fact that I have to rebuild everything.

In the other DoW games, once you put buildings in place they stay when you have to defend against attacks, so that you can get resources and power quickly. Not so with Soulstorm, when you defend against an attack you start from the beginning with one building and the reinforcements that you place in that territory. You have to re- build everything, from listening posts to barracks, as if they never existed.

This to me is a waste of resources and power, but I can learn to live with it, because it isn't going to change.

Review Page: 1 2 3 Next 

Actions